All posts tagged royal family

Emperor Akihito celebrates his 77th birthday at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on December 23, 2010.

Emperor Akihito, who has been suffering from bronchitis for nearly two weeks, has come down with mild bronchial pneumonia, according to the Imperial Household Agency on Friday.

A statement released by the Imperial Household Agency on Friday said the new diagnosis came after the emperor, who turns 78 at the end of next month, came down with a fever that reached 39 degrees Celsius, or about 102 degrees Fahrenheit earlier this week. An examination performed later showed an inflammation in the lungs. The agency said the fever has since started to subside and that the emperor is taking antibiotics. Read More »

Japanese Emperor Akihito, left, accompanied by Empress Michiko, arrives at the University of Tokyo Hospital on Nov. 6.

Emperor Akihito’s hospital stay has stretched into a second week as he recovers from bronchitis, making it the longest period Japan’s titular head of state has been hospitalized in eight years.

The Imperial Household Agency said on Monday the Emperor will remain in the hospital at Tokyo University where he checked in Nov. 6. As his symptoms subsided late last week the doctors expected the Emperor to go home Friday. But a persistent cough and a fever that spiked that morning postponed his discharge. “The Emperor will remain hospitalized for the time being,” said a statement released by the Imperial Household Agency on Monday. The spokeswoman at the agency declined to specify how much longer he may be in the hospital. Read More »

Japan’s Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko look at the area which was devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture April 27.

As royals around the world prepare to jet off to London to watch Prince William exchange vows with Kate Middleton Friday in Westminster Abbey, the Japanese Emperor and Empress boarded a train Wednesday morning that took the imperial couple on their first trip to the northern towns devastated by the March 11 crises. Read More »

As nearly a quarter of a million survivors remain crowded in makeshift shelters the Imperial Household Agency said the staff’s bathhouse at the idyllic Nasu Imperial Villa was opened to evacuees taking refuge in Tochigi Prefecture, in the northern reaches of the central island’s mid-section where the summer retreat is located. Read More »

Japanese bridal couple walks through a meadow after their wedding ceremony on the foggy Mount First in Switzerland. Europe is becoming a popular overseas wedding destination for Japanese couples.

After an extended courtship, the U.K.’s Prince William and his longtime girlfriend, Kate Middleton, are engaged to be married. Fans of royal weddings around the world are in raptures. In Japan, so is a bridal industry on the rebound from the financial crisis.

As home to the world’s oldest monarchy, Japan is always keen for a royal wedding fix, as witnessed by extensive media coverage of Tuesday’s announcement from London. The country saw its last lavish imperial wedding in 1993, all but coming to a halt when Crown Prince Naruhito married his college sweetheart Crown Princess Masako following a lengthy romance — sound familiar? — on a rainy June morning. Blanket news coverage of the all-day ceremonial affair replete with a parade through Tokyo before tens of thousands of people captured the country’s frenzy and detailed the Crown Princess’s modern to ancient costume changes. Crown Prince Naruhito is the direct heir to the Imperial throne. Read More »

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